The level culminated in a sniping sequence. Again, this was fairly heavily scripted, though it did force me to appreciate the level of detail put into the game's physics. Bullet drop was actually enough of an issue that I had to compensate for it, and the game was kind enough to provide me with the tools to do so, such as enemy distances and a drop scale in the scope. I wish it had been a bit more explicit about that, though, because it took me a few good attempts to realize why I was missing; in general, the game seemed to occasionally bewilder me by not providing an obvious progression, which is frustrating in such a linear game.

After Stump's mission, I found myself plunked down into Preacher's shoes (a veteran of the last Medal of Honor game) in a level called "Hot Pursuit." The name is a not-so-subtle nod to the Need for Speed series, which is appropriate given that this level is a driving one and was, in fact, built with the aid of EA Black Box, who most recently handled Need For Speed: The Run. The controls were intuitive and responsive, in that even from the first-person perspective, mistakes made never felt like they were due to the game treating me unfairly. That said, the sequence as a whole is a largely scripted chase scene, culminating in a minute or so of attempting to ram the escaping vehicle. It's a definite shift from the core shooting mechanics, and I imagine will serve to break them up well (it's certainly one of the most lovingly crafted secondary gameplay modes I've ever seen), but it felt like a bit of an odd choice to fill up fifty percent of our single-player game-time with a one-off driving level.

The greatest challenge for Medal of Honor: Warfighter is going to be distinguishing itself from Call of Duty: Black Ops II in a way that is both positive and meaningful. For what it's worth, in my limited time with the campaign, it felt a lot less like I was wasting time in enemy alleys, watching waves of foes gunned down by my squad as I occasionally contributed a kill or two until we could safely advance. Skirmishes are smaller in Warfighter, and rely more on the player to carry their weight in combat, which is, to me, more satisfying in the end. We'll see if it carries through in the rest of the game.

ByShelby Reiches
Contributing Writer
Date: October 4, 2012

Game Features:

PETN - Explosive global threat: Medal of Honor moves beyond the borders of Afghanistan into the global fight against the war on terror. Tier 1 Operators from around the globe deploy where ever necessary.

Micro-Destruction: Frostbite 2 makes weapons fire in close quarters combat more intense than ever with micro-destruction affecting every element of the environment. Doors shatter from explosions, walls splinter from bullets and concrete fractures from flying debris.